Vikings best Wildcats 43-35

Tony Baisi

For The Inter-Mountain

tbaisi1975@gmail.com

PETERSBURG — Petersburg High School and Potomac Valley Conference rival Pendleton County combined for more than 800 yards of total offense, and dented the Viking Memorial Field scoreboard with 78 total points over the weekend.

When the dust settled, the Vikings came out on top, 43-35, in their home opener, with a total of 491 yards gained on offense. With members of Petersburg’s only playoff team in school history from the 1993 season also on hand for their 25-year anniversary, the Vikes popped out to a 21-0 lead as the first quarter ended.

Senior signal caller Jacob Hartman hit Seth Williams for a 28-yard touchdown play with under 3 minutes played in the opening frame. Dylan Alt then hit the first of his 5 successful PATs made on the night. Hartman tacked on a 9-yard rushing score midway through, and then found Zach Rohrbaugh for a 71-yard passing play ending up in the end zone as the first period expired.

Pendleton County senior quarterback Kole Puffenbarger and Timothy Thorne put the Wildcats in the scoring column at the 6:59 mark in the second quarter with a 23-yard connection. Josh Alt then hit the first of his 3 made point after tries to cut the deficit to 21-7.

Later in the first half, Puffenbarger found Thorne again for a 25-yard pass and catch for six. With under a minute to go before intermission, Hartman tossed an 11-yard strike to Tyce Wisnewski before the duo put together a 2-point conversion to give the hosts a 29-14 advantage heading into the half time locker room.

A quarter of the way through the third stanza, Hartman and Wisnewski connected again on an 18-yard score. Thorne returned the ensuing kickoff 65 yards back past the pylons to help Pendleton cut back in again at 36-20.

With 1:33 to go in the third, Puffenberger hit an open Keinyn Lockard, and then passed a 2-point conversion to Thorne to help the visitors only trail 36-28. Zach Rohrbaugh took the pigskin 45 yards back the other way on the following kickoff, and Zach Wampler scampered for 25 yards on his way to pay dirt to give Petersburg a 43-28 edge when entering the final period. The last 12 minutes of the PVC battle remained scoreless until the 1:08 mark, when Puffenberger tossed a 14-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Gardner.

Hartman went 21 of 35 through the air for 267 yards and 4 touchdowns, while still having a clean sheet on the season with no interceptions thrown. He also galloped for 94 yards and a score on the ground with 19 carries.

Wampler rushed for 115 yards and a TD on 15 attempts, and caught 2 passes for 23 yards. Zach Rohrbaugh hauled in 9 receptions for 105 yards, including a score, and carried the rock 3 times for 15 yards. Wisnewski snagged 8 catches for 98 yards and two visits to the end zone.